Digitally printed furniture and methods for manufacture thereof

ABSTRACT

Manufacturing methods for furniture having a durable laminated surface with a digitally printed graphic image of a design include the steps of creating a graphic image of a design, printing the graphic image with a printer onto printer paper laminated to an uncut or precut furniture substrate, coating the paper with a protective coating, and finishing the laminated furniture components for later assembly. Optionally, the graphic image is printed on paper, which is later adhered to uncut or precut furniture substrate. The finishing steps include cutting the laminated furniture substrate into furniture components, edge banding the edges of the laminated furniture components and preparing the furniture components with fastener housings for later assembly. Ready-to-assemble furniture is provided with at least one exterior laminated furniture surface having a high quality digitally printed image of graphic design such as wood grain, wood inlay or other custom design.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to digitally printed furniture and methodsfor the manufacture thereof.

2. Description of Prior Art

Consumers of ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture products recognize thelower cost of RTA furniture with a faux wood image in comparison to thehigher cost of solid wood furniture. Traditionally, RTA furniture wasmanufactured with a piece of plastic veneer with a faux wood surfacedesign glued to the furniture structure, comprising precut, wood-basedproducts selected from various densities of particleboard. Components ofRTA furniture were generally assembled into furniture after purchase bythe consumer. In order to reduce the costs associated with traditionalRTA furniture, modern RTA furniture was developed which included a thinplastic coating layer, similar to contact paper, adhered toparticleboard or other suitable material. The thin plastic coating layercan be easily peeled away or accidentally cut or damaged, revealing theunderlying particleboard or other material. The surface design on thethin plastic coating was a faux wood image that was particularly visibleat the juncture points of the sub-components of the furniture where thefaux wood designs were unmatched.

Recently, RTA furniture entered a renaissance relating to surface designpreparation and furniture finishing. The renaissance involves thecreation of RTA furniture with a surface design having a high qualityappearance without the high cost of solid wood furniture. These newerversions of RTA furniture have a solid wood appearance, which is theresult of printing a surface of the furniture with a graphic design. Inparticular, RTA desktops have been created by combining several desktopsub-components with different surface pattern designs to create anappearance of a wood inlay design. These RTA desktops require themanufacturing steps of cutting, coating, and assembling of individualsub-components to create a desktop. Upon initial assembly, the desktopappears to be a single piece desktop with a wood inlay surface design.However, through use, the desktop tends to become disjointed as thesub-components and fasteners wear and loosen, adversely affecting theappearance of the wood inlay surface design.

Therefore, a need exists for furniture having a durable laminate surfacecomprising a high quality surface image of a wood grain or other designthat is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and a method for themanufacture thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides furniture with a durable laminate surfacecomprising a high quality surface image of a wood grain or other designthat is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and a method formanufacture including a method of lamination thereof.

Generally, the method for manufacturing the furniture comprises thesteps of creating a graphic image of a design for printing on paper,digitally printing the graphic image on printer paper initially or lateradhered to wood or wood-based furniture substrate, coating the printedpaper with a durable ultraviolet protective coating, and finishing thelaminated furniture substrate for later assembly.

Creation of the graphic design comprises development of a digitalpattern such as a wood grain or other custom design. The digital artdevelopment occurs in layers to allow for visual tuning of the color ofeach element of the pattern. Further visual tuning of the color of thedesign can also occur at a printer station. Once finalized, the graphicimage of the wood grain or other design is digitally printed with aprinter onto printer paper.

Printing the graphic image on printer paper comprises use of a largeformat commercial grade printer capable of large print surface jobs,such as a desktop or other furniture substrate with paper adhered to thesurface. The printers are configured to print the graphic image of awood grain pattern or other custom pattern in one pass onto printerpaper adhered to a surface of a furniture substrate. As an alternativeto printing a graphic image to printer paper laminated on a wood orwood-based furniture component, the graphic image may be printed onrolled printer paper that is later adhered to the surface of a piece offurniture substrate.

Coating occurs by applying a layer of an ultraviolet protective coatingovertop of the exterior surface of the printer paper printed with agraphic image adhered to a furniture substrate. The coating step createsa final laminated surface with a printed graphic image of a graphicdesign.

The finishing of the laminated furniture substrate comprises cutting andshaping the laminated furniture substrate into corresponding furniturecomponents. Once cut and shaped, the laminated furniture components areedge-banded to protect the underlying furniture substrate, and thelaminated furniture components are then further cut and bored to createhousings for fastener components in preparation for assembly.

The assembled furniture manufactured from the method has a durable,laminated surface with a high quality printed graphic image of a woodgrain pattern or other design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawings will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the manufacturing method of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a photograph of a desktop surface of an RTA desk manufacturedin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a photograph of a comer of the desktop surface shown in FIG.2;

FIG. 4A is a sectional view of a desktop made in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 4B is a sectional view of the desktop along line A in FIG. 4Ashowing layers of the laminated furniture component; and

FIG. 5 is a photograph of a desk made in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In reference to the disclosure of the invention, similar references tosimilar parts are used uniformly throughout the disclosure. For example,the phrase “graphic image” means any wood grain design, a wood graininlay design such as those shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, or another customdesign. The phrase “furniture substrate” means any piece of solid wood,wood-based substrate such as any available density of particleboard, orother acceptable furniture substrate known by those skilled in the artthat is cut into the primary structural components of a piece offurniture. The words “laminated” and “lamination” mean the compositelayers of adhesive, printer paper, printed graphic image and protectivecoating used to create a laminated surface on the underlying furnituresubstrate in accordance with the present invention. The phrases“furniture component” and “corresponding furniture components” mean anyor all pieces of laminated furniture substrates that are used toassemble a desk 42 as shown in FIG. 5, credenza, bookshelf or any otherpiece of furniture.

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention comprises a method ofmanufacturing furniture and method of laminating a furniture substrateto provide a durable, laminated surface comprising a high-qualityprinted graphic image of a wood grain design, a wood grain inlay designor other custom graphic design, for ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture.However, the use of the method is not limited solely to the manufactureof RTA furniture and may also be used to manufacture other furniture.Particularly, in reference to FIGS. 2-5, the present invention alsoprovides an RTA furniture product with at least one exterior surface,such as a desktop, drawer front or door, with a laminated surfacecomprising a coated high quality printed graphic image printed onprinter paper adhered to at least one surface of a furniture substrateof the RTA furniture product.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, the method of the present inventioncomprises the step 2 of designing a high quality graphic image. Afterthe step 6 of adhering paper to a furniture substrate, the methodcomprises the step 10 of printing the graphic image with a large formatprinter in one pass onto printer paper 24 adhered 6 with adhesive 22 toa furniture substrate 20. See FIG. 4B. Alternatively, the methodcomprises the step 4 of printing the graphic image onto printer paper 24and the step 8 of later adhering the paper 24 to a furniture substrate20. Thereafter, the method comprises the step 12 of coating a printedgraphic image 26 on printer paper 24 with an ultraviolet protectivecoating 28, as shown in FIGS. 4A-B. The protective coating 28 is anoutermost surface layer 30 of laminated surface 32 on the furnituresubstrate 20 and is, therefore, characteristically durable. Finally, themethod comprises the further step 14 of finishing the furnituresubstrate 20 with the laminated surface 32. The finishing step 14comprises cutting the furniture substrate 20 into desired dimensions tocreate corresponding furniture components 34 and adhering an edge band38 along edges 36 of furniture components 34, as shown in FIGS. 4A-B.When finished, the corresponding furniture components are adapted toreceive fasteners capable of attaching related furniture components intoa piece of furniture, such as desk 42 shown in FIG. 5.

The step 2 of developing the graphic image is the most time-consumingstep of the method of the present invention. A schematic of a designpattern is conceived and then embodied in a graphic format using anavailable computer-based software program capable of high qualitygraphic design. Additional computer hardware such as a scanner may beused to scan elements of a design to incorporate into the development ofa design pattern in graphic format. The design may be a wood grainpattern, such as oak, maple or other wood, with a particular color toneand visual depth. The design may also be a compilation of various woodgrain graphic images showing an inlay wood design pattern, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3. Furthermore, the design may also be a graphic image of acorporate logo, government seal or other custom design pattern with anoptional, single color or wood grain design as a visual backdrop in thedesign. Essentially, the design that is developed for incorporation intothe laminated surface 32 can embody nearly limitless visualconfigurations.

Step 2 of developing the conceived image into graphic format occurs bylayering visual elements of the image into a graphic design. The visualcomponents are layered in graphic form so that the various layers may betuned visually to create a high quality graphic image that may appear tobe real wood when printed to printer paper 24 in accordance with theinvention. The visual tuning of the image involves adjustingcharacteristics of the layered components such as color, contrast andother visual characteristics with the software program used in thedesign development. For example, Adobe® Photoshop® and CAD 18 softwareprograms are suitable for development of graphic images. Other suitablesoftware programs will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Layeringthe visual components of the design also provides a richness of colorand visual depth in the appearance of the printed graphic image 26, asshown in FIG. 2. Further visual tuning of the design may occur afterprinting the graphic image at a printer station until the design is inan acceptable final form as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Once finalized, thegraphic image of the pattern is used to print consistent patterns onprinter paper 24 during manufacture of furniture components. The graphicimage may be archived in a storable digital format for laterapplications.

Referring to FIG. 1, the alternative steps 4,10 of digitally printingthe finalized graphic image on printer paper involves use of a largeformat commercial grade digital printer capable of printing on largesurfaces. Suitable commercial grade printers for printing in accordancewith the present invention are sold by Leggett & Platt Inc. Any othersuitable printer will also be apparent to those skilled in the art. Theprinter is used for digitally printing the graphic image onto a desktop40, shelf top, door, drawer front or other furniture component havingprinter paper 24 adhered with adhesive 22 to the furniture substrate 20.Alternatively, the printer is used for digitally printing, as in step 4,the graphic image onto printer paper 24 that is later adhered withadhesive 22 to a furniture substrate 20, as in step 8. An example ofsuitable printer paper 24 is a double calendered, 70# paper manufacturedby the Millcraft Paper Company. Other suitable printer paper 24 will beapparent to those skilled in the art. A key advantage to the presentinvention is the capability of the large format printer to print a highquality image in a single pass onto printer paper 24, rather than inmultiple passes over the printer paper 24. The single pass printingprovides a high quality printed graphic image 26 with a rich color andvisual depth without adding a time-intensive manufacturing step.

Whether pre-printed with a graphic image or blank, the printer paper 24is adhered with an adhesive 22 to the corresponding furniture substrate20 through an adhesion process. The adhesion step 6 or 8 involvesapplying an adhesive 22 to either the printer paper 24 or the surface ofthe furniture substrate 20. An example of a suitable adhesive 24 is awater-based adhesive for membrane application sold by the JowatCorporation. The adhesion step also involves pressing the printer paper24 against the furniture substrate 20 with the adhesive 22 sandwichedbetween the printer paper 24 and the furniture substrate 20. A suitablepressing machine is a veneer press manufactured by Wehoner. During theadhesion step 6 or 8, the furniture substrate may be either uncut orpre-cut to close to the final dimension of the furniture component 34.

The step 12 of coating the exterior surface of the printer paper 24 witha protective layer involves applying a layer of an ultravioletprotective coating 28 to the printed graphic image 26 on the printerpaper 24 adhered to the underlying furniture substrate 20. A suitableprotective coating sold by the Valspar Corporation is a 100% solids,acrylated coating that is sprayable. Other suitable protective coatingswill be apparent to a skilled artisan. The coating step 12 is the finalstep in creating a laminated surface 32 on a furniture substrate 20.Overall, as shown specifically in FIG. 4B, the laminated surface 32 ofthe furniture substrate 20 comprises at least one exterior layer ofprotective coating 28 overlying a printed graphic image 26 on printerpaper 24 adhered with an adhesive 22 to an underlying furnituresubstrate 20.

The step 14 for finishing the furniture substrate 20 with a laminatedsurface 32 involves several processing steps. The furniture substrate 20with a laminated surface 32, whether uncut or precut, is shaped and cutwith suitable wood shaping devices, such as saws and sanders, into finaldimensions to correspond with related furniture components 34 used toassemble a piece of furniture such as a desk 42, as shown in FIG. 5.Edge bands 38 are then adhered with an adhesive 22 and other suitablefasteners, such as nails or staples, to an edge 36 of the furnituresubstrate 20 with a laminated surface 32. The edge band 38 is used tocover and to protect the edge 36 of the furniture substrate 20 with alaminated surface 32. The edge band 38 comprises wood or otheracceptable material capable of covering and protecting an edge 36 of thefurniture components 34. Holes and related receiving spaces are providedin the furniture components 34. The holes and receiving spaces providehousings for fasteners and attachment devices used by those skilled inthe art to connect a furniture component 34 with corresponding furniturecomponents 34, which may also be furniture substrates 20 with laminatedsurfaces 32 in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2-5, furniture manufactured by the method of thepresent invention may be a desk 42 (as shown in FIG. 5), a credenza, abookshelf, a hutch, a table, an entertainment unit or any other piece offurniture in a form ready to assemble or, alternatively, alreadyassembled. At least one exterior surface of a furniture component 34,such as a desktop 40, comprises a furniture substrate 20 with alaminated surface 32 in accordance with the present invention as shownparticularly in FIG. 4B, which is a close up view of the desktop 40 cutalong line A. In fact, all exterior surfaces of the furniture components34 may be a furniture substrate 20 with a laminated surface 32 inaccordance with the present invention. For example, as shown in FIGS.2-5, a desktop 40 of a desk 42 may have a laminated surface 32comprising a printed graphic image 26 of a wood inlay design, whileother exterior surfaces of the desk 42 have a design matching theprinted graphic image 26 of a wood inlay design of the desktop 40.Additionally, all of the exterior surfaces of a desk 42 may havelaminated surfaces 32 comprising a wood design to make the desk 42appear as if made from solid wood as shown in FIG. 5. In anotherembodiment, the doors of a credenza may have laminated surfaces with awood inlay design, while all other exterior surfaces of the desk mayhave a wood design matching elements of the wood inlay design. In yetanother embodiment, a surface of a table may have a laminated surfacewith a printed corporate logo or government agency seal on a solid coloror wood design background. In accordance with the invention, thefurniture product may have any combination of printed graphic designs inthe laminated surface on a furniture substrate.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-B, the invention provides that the furniturecomponent 34, such as a desktop 40, has an edge band 38 attached by anadhesive 22 or other suitable attachment, including nails or staples,along the edge 36 of the desktop 40. The edge band 38 may be any desiredtype of wood, such as oak, maple or other suitable wood, that is stainedand coated with a protective coating 28 to color match the wood designin the laminated surface 32 of a furniture substrate 20. The edge band38 may be shaped into a variety of dimensions by cutting and routing theedge band 38 to create a desired three-dimensional appearance for apiece of furniture made in accordance with the invention. Essentially,the edge band 38 covers and protects the exposed edge 36 of thefurniture substrate 20 that is not laminated, while also finishing thefurniture components 34. For example, the edge 36 of a desktop 40 willhave an edge band 38 that is cut and routed to a size to cover the edge36 of the desktop 40, while also having mitered ends to create afinished corner of the desktop 40. In addition, the edge 36 of afurniture component 34 used as a vertical support, such as a side orfront of a desk, credenza or bookshelf, will have an edge band 38 sizedto cover the edge 36 of the laminated surface 32 of the furnituresubstrate 20. Furthermore, the edge 36 of a table top will have an edgeband 38 cut to cover the edge 36 of the table top and will have miteredcorners to create a finished appearance. Additional wood stripping maybe attached with an adhesive or other fasteners, such as nails orstaples, to create any three-dimensional design feature on any laminatedsurface 32 of a furniture component 34.

All corresponding furniture components made in accordance with thepresent invention are cut and bored in appropriate locations to housescrews and other suitable fasteners used by those skilled in the art toassemble the furniture components into a piece of furniture. Forexample, bore holes are provided to mount slide mechanisms with screwsand handles with bolts for a drawer, hinges for a door and any otherrelevant components of a piece of furniture. In addition, cuts and holesare provided in the furniture components to house suitable fasteners forassembling components into a piece of furniture. The components of thefurniture are adapted to receive fasteners and other functional hardwaresuch as handles, hinges and the like, known in the art, to assemble thecomponents of furniture manufactured in accordance with the invention.

Having described preferred embodiments of the invention, additionalembodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalentarrangements will be apparent to those skilled in the art. These andother embodiments apparent to those skilled in the art will beunderstood to be within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method of manufacturing furniture with a printed graphic imagelaminated on at least one surface of the furniture, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) creating a graphic image of a design forprinting on paper; (b) printing the graphic image with a printer ontothe paper adhered with an adhesive to a furniture substrate; (c) coatingthe paper with the graphic image adhered to the furniture substrate witha protective coating; and (d) finishing the furniture substrate into afurniture component for assembly with other corresponding furniturecomponents.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating agraphic image of a design for printing on paper comprises generating theimage with multi-layered design and adjusting the graphic image to adesired visual effect.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphicimage of the design is selected from the group consisting of a woodgrain design, an inlay wood grain design, a logo design, a seal designand a custom graphic design.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theadhesive is a water-based adhesive for membrane application.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of printing the graphic image onpaper comprises printing the graphic image on the paper and adhering thepaper with the graphic image with an adhesive to a furniture substrate.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the paper is a double-calendered, 70#paper.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of printing thegraphic image on paper comprises digitally printing the graphic image onthe paper using a large format printer.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of coating the paper adhered to the furniture substratecomprises applying a layer of a protective coating to the paper printedwith the graphic image.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer ofprotective coating is a 100% solids, acrylated coating.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the step of finishing the furniture substratecomprises the further steps of: (a) cutting the piece of furnituresubstrate into the furniture component; (b) adhering an edge band to anedge of the furniture component; and (c) boring the furniture componentto house fixtures for furniture assembly.
 11. Ready-to-assemblefurniture comprising at least one component with a laminated surfacehaving a graphic image printed on paper adhered with an adhesive to asurface of the component, a protective coating applied to an exteriorsurface of the paper with the graphic image, and an edge band affixed toexposed edges of the component.
 12. The ready-to-assemble furniture ofclaim 11, wherein the adhesive is a water-based adhesive for membraneapplication.
 13. The ready-to-assemble furniture of claim 11, whereinthe protective coating is a 100% solids, acrylated coating.
 14. Theready-to-assemble furniture of claim 11, wherein the furniture isselected from the group consisting of a desk, a credenza, a book shelf,a hutch, a table and an entertainment unit.
 15. The ready-to-assemblefurniture of claim 11, wherein the component is selected from the groupconsisting of a desktop, a door, a drawer front and any component ofready-to-assemble furniture.
 16. The ready-to-assemble furniture ofclaim 11, wherein the graphic image printed on the paper originates froma layered graphic image, and wherein the graphic image is printeddigitally on the paper with a printer in one pass.
 17. Theready-to-assemble furniture of claim 11, wherein the graphic image isselected from the group consisting of a wood grain design, a wood grainwith an inlay design, a logo design, a seal design and a custom design.18. A piece of ready-to-assemble furniture comprising at least onecomponent comprising a furniture substrate having a laminated surface,wherein the furniture substrate comprises a wood-based product, thelaminated surface comprising a layer of protective coating over agraphic image printed on paper adhered with an adhesive to the furnituresubstrate, and wherein the component is adapted to receive fastenersused to assemble the component to corresponding components.